The Charlotte Bobcats have chosen Dallas assistant Sam Vincent as their new coach, a person familiar with the search said Wednesday.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made, told The Associated Press that Vincent would be introduced at a news conference Friday.
Vincent will be reunited with Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan, who has the final say on all basketball decisions. Jordan and Vincent played together for two seasons with the Chicago Bulls in the late 1980s.
Vincent, 44, will replace Bernie Bickerstaff, who also served as general manager in the expansion team’s first three seasons. Bickerstaff is staying with the Bobcats in a front-office role and has been heavily involved in the coaching search with Jordan.
Vincent, a former first-round pick of the Boston Celtics in 1985, has limited NBA coaching experience – one season as an assistant under Avery Johnson with the Mavericks. But Jordan said this year he was looking for a young coach in the mold of Johnson.
Magic: Brian Hill is out as coach after two consecutive losing seasons and a first-round sweep in this year’s playoffs.
It was unclear whether Hill was fired or resigned, with the team releasing a statement stating he would not return as coach. The team said Hill would have the option to return to the organization in another capacity.
“Brian’s contributions to the Orlando Magic have been tremendous,” president Bob Vander Weide said in the statement. “We appreciate everything Brian did for us as a head coach in taking us to this point, and hope he decides to stay with the organization.”
In two stints with the Magic, Hill became the winningest coach in team history. He took Orlando to its first playoff appearance in four years this season.
The Magic finished 40-42 before being eliminated in four games by the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs.
Hill, 59, is 298-315 overall as an NBA head coach and was 267-192 with Orlando. He had a year left on his contract, along with a team option for another.
Timberwolves: Randy Wittman signed a multiyear contract to return as coach. Terms were not immediately available.
Vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale fired Dwane Casey in January, looking for more consistency from a team that was 20-20 at that point.
McHale turned to Wittman to smooth things out, hoping his experience running the Cleveland Cavaliers would serve him well in his new job. But the Timberwolves were consistently bad under Wittman, who spoke openly of a lack of team chemistry and poor attitude from some players as things spun out of control. They finished the season 12-30 with Wittman at the helm and missed the playoffs for the third straight season.
